Black Rose
by Kalliope91
Summary: time-travel fic. Rose ends up in the year 1975, the marauder's fifth year at Hogwarts.
1. Prologue

Black Rose

Prologue

It was Rose Weasley's OWL-year and she was even more stressed than her extremely stressed fellow students, because she took more classes than any of them. In fact she had so many classes that she had needed a time-turner since third year to get to them all and finish her homework on time.

"Rose, don't you think you are overdoing it a bit? You have so many classes that I have no idea how you manage it. Maybe you should drop a class or two?" Scorpius Malfoy her best friend suggested.

"No. I've been taking these classes for three years now. I'm not dropping one right before our OWLs!" she refused.

"But Rose, look at you! You look like you haven't slept or eaten in days", the blonde boy tried to convince her.

"No!"

Rose stayed stubborn. She was dead set on acquiring more OWLs than her mother and equally good grades. She was a Ravenclaw through and through and had inherited her mother's passion for learning and books. She loved to learn new things and was even more obsessed with books than her mother, if that was even possible.

Scorpius relented and went into the Great Hall for lunch. He didn't notice that Rose didn't follow him, instead making her way to the library, playing mindlessly with her necklace. Only it wasn't any old necklace but the time-turner and Rose had, lost in thought as she was, forgotten to count while spinning it. When she finally noticed her mistake it was already too late and time seemed to run backwards before her eyes.

On and on it went and Rose wondered how far into the past she would go. Days? Weeks? Maybe even months? It finally stopped and Rose carefully looked around.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Characters belong to J. K. Rowling**

**A/N: English is not my mother tongue, so I apologize for any spelling, grammar or other mistakes I may have made.**

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Chapter 1

Rose was standing in a deserted part of the library behind a shelf containing history books about the 13th century. With relieve she noticed that no one was in sight and stepped out of the row. The library was completely empty.

"Damn it, I've probably jumped back to the beginning of the year", she murmured quietly.

She sat down on one of the tables and thought about her next plan of action. With a time-turner you could only go backwards but not forwards. That meant she was stuck here, whenever she was. Rose decided to go to Professor McGonagall and explain her situation to her. She would probably get detention and a stern talking to, she thought dejectedly.

She started to look around for a clue that would tell her the exact date. Fortunately there was a Daily Prophet lying on one of the tables and she went over to have a look at it. The date she saw written there was a shock.

_This can't be today's Daily Prophet_, Rose thought horrified. The Daily Prophet read the 2nd of September 1975. Quickly she hid in the darkest corner of the library and had a closer look at the edition of the Daily Prophet. Maybe someone had a look at this old version for some research and didn't bother to put it back?

But no, that wasn't possible either, because the edition looked brand new. The parchment was not yellow at all and the newspaper seemed untouched. Trembling Rose opened the newspaper and read through some of the articles. If she was really stranded in the year 1975 she wanted to know as much as possible about what was going on at the time.

Her bad feeling intensified, when she understood that wizarding Britain was at war in 1975. Voldemort was nearly at the height of his power and many of the articles told of the cruel deeds of his faithful Deatheaters. Death and torture seemed so common that only the most vicious murders even made the front page.

Rose stayed in her hiding place until the night fell. Then she made her way up to the headmaster's office. When she reached the Gargoyle protecting the entrance she noticed that she did not know the password and wondered what to do now.

"Good evening my child. I don't think we've met, I'm Albus Dumbledore. I suppose you wanted to speak to me?" a voice said from behind.

She spun around, shocked. After all you don't meet dead people every day. But there he was in front of her eyes, Albus Dumbledore. He looked just like he looked on the chocolate frog cards, with his long white beard, twinkling blue eyes and half-moon glasses.

"Good evening, Sir. I'm afraid I got...lost", she said after she regained her bearing.

"Lost you say? I'm sure we will be able to help you. If you would accompany me to my office, please" Dumbledore said and gave the password to the gargoyle.

Rose followed him onto the winding staircase and into the office that in her time belonged to Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore offered her a chair and she sat down. Dumbledore sat on the chair behind his desk and examined her curiously.

"I admit that I am curious. May I know your name, Miss?" the old headmaster asked.

"Rose Weasley, Sir" Rose replied.

"Weasley? I didn't know they had a daughter your age", he mused.

"They don't. Yet", she said.

"Professor Dumbledore, I don't belong here. I've had a time-turner accident and now I don't know how to get back", Rose explained.

"So you are from the future? And you went back more than a few years considering you are not even born yet in this time", he surmised.

"Yes Sir. Do you know a way to send me back?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, child but that is even beyond my knowledge and power. I'm afraid you will have to stay with us", said Dumbledore apologetically.

"I can never go back?" Rose asked devastated.

"Perhaps one day you will be back to the year you came from, but you will no longer be the same. You will be a lot older than you usually would, because you will have lived every day from now on until then", Professor Dumbledore explained.

Rose had to pull herself together to keep from crying. The thought to never see her family again hurt and she would miss all her friends dearly. The worst thing was, that she had not even been able to say goodbye. She had just disappeared and no one would know what happened to her. Surely they were all worried sick over her.

"I think it would be best if you were to change your name and take on a new identity. Is there a name you would like?" the headmaster inquired.

"Dora Rose Granger", was the first thing that popped into her head. It was her mother's maiden name, a shortened version of her second name Nymphadora and her real name as the new second name.

Dumbledore nodded, satisfied with her suggestion. "Welcome at Hogwarts, Miss Granger."

"Now, your house is obviously Ravenclaw or would you like a resorting?" he asked.

"No, thank you. I would like to stay in Ravenclaw", she declined his offer.

Dumbledore nodded again. "Very well. Then there is only the issue of your courses left to sort out and we will need to get you the necessary equipment. You have got your wand at least, I assume. Will you need anything else?"

"Well, these are the only clothes I possess at the moment. I will at least need another school uniform to change", Rose said.

"Ah, of course, how could I forget. Naturally I will organize some suitable clothes for you", Dumbledore agreed.

"Now, let's move on to your classes. Which classes did you take before?" he questioned.

"All of them. That's why I needed the time-turner", Rose answered.

"In this case I suggest you drop two of the classes to prevent any future mishaps. Would you mind handing over the time-turner to me for safekeeping?"

"Then I will drop divination and muggle studies", Rose decided reluctantly and handed the time-turner over to Dumbledore.

"Good, good. Here is your timetable", he said after touching the parchment with his wand and gave it to her.

"Thank you, Sir", she said and put her new timetable into her schoolbag.

"Let me call Filius, so he can introduce you to your fellow students in Ravenclaw", he said and walked over to the fireplace. He flooed Professor Flitwick and only a few minutes later the small charms Professor joined them in Professor Dumbledore's office.

The headmaster introduced her as Dora Granger and said that she would be joining the fifth years. Professor Flitwick greeted her enthusiastically and then walked her to the Ravenclaw common room. On the way there he explained many things about the school she of course already knew, but had to act as if she didn't. While only half listening to her head of house, she thought about the story she would tell to her fellow students if they asked about her family. She had forgotten to talk about it with Professor Dumbledore.

They reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw-tower and Professor Flitwick answered the riddle to open the door. Rose followed him into the common room, where despite the late hour, many of the older students sat, because it was the weekend.

"Attention, please!" the tiny Professor squeaked and everyone turned their attention to him.

Rose didn't like standing in the spotlight like she did now but she tried not to let on about her feelings.

"This is Dora Granger. She is a new student and will join the fifth year. Please make her feel welcome" Professor Flitwick introduced her.

Then he took his leave and exited the common room. Instantly the other students began to whisper excitedly and Rose wished she knew where her bed was, so she could go to sleep.

A pretty, confident girl with brown hair and eyes came towards her. Rose noticed the head girl badge on her robes. Quickly she took off her own prefect badge. In this time she was just an ordinary student.

"Hello, I'm the head girl, Emmeline Vance. Welcome to Ravenclaw", she greeted the new girl with curly red hair and brown eyes.

"Thank you, I'm Dora Granger", Rose introduced herself again. She was still a little overwhelmed from the events of the last few hours and not in the mood for small talk.

"You look dead on your feet" Emmeline noted and called another girl over. This one seemed a bit younger and had black hair with blue eyes.

"This is Rebecca Boot. She's the fifth year prefect" Emmeline explained.

"Would you please show Granger to your dormitory?" she asked Rebecca.

"Sure" the prefect answered dutifully. "Hi, I'm Becky" she then said to Rose and held out her hand.

"Dora" Rose replied smiling and shook her hand.

"Then let's go, Dora. The left staircase leads to the girl's dormitories, the right one to the boy's", she began to explain what Rose already knew and lead her up the stairs on the left.

"Our dormitory is the topmost dormitory. With you we're five girls now" she went on explaining and opened the door to their dormitory.

The room was round and the beds were standing in a circle. Four of the beds were obviously already occupied and only the one on the right side of the door seemed to be free. Rose instantly threw herself onto the bed and closed her eyes.

But her rest didn't last long. The three other fifth year girls stormed into the room, curious about their new fellow classmate that had appeared so suddenly in their midst.

"Dora, may I introduce, these are Sharon Davies, Mary Turpin and Lynne Brocklehurst. Sharon, Mary, Lynne, this is Dora, our new roommate", Becky introduced everyone.

"Hello, nice to meet you all", said Rose smiling nervously.

"Why are you only coming to Hogwarts now? And why didn't you take the train with all the others yesterday?" Sharon inquired curiously.

She had long blonde hair, blue eyes and a kind face. She seemed to possess a very outgoing personality and a lot of curiosity.

"Until quite recently I lived with my parents in France and went to Bauxbatons. But then my parents died only a few days ago and now I'm living with some distant relatives here in England. They thought it would be better for me to change school, too. It was all very short notice", Rose spun her tale.

She was very glad now that Fleur had taught her French and told Rose about her time at Bauxbatons. It would make her story more believable. The tears that streamed down her cheeks as she thought about her family that she would maybe never see again, helped as well. Becky laid a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, sometimes I'm just too curious", Sharon apologized.

"Not your fault, you didn't know", Rose sniffed and tried to smile.

"I think we should let you get to sleep", Becky said. "We can talk tomorrow."

Since it was already pretty late, the others decided to go to sleep as well. Rose undressed quickly and got into bed. Only minutes later she was asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When Rose awoke the next day, she first thought it had all been a bad dream, but when she looked around she noticed all the little things that told her it was real. She groaned and buried her head in her pillow. Her roommates were nowhere in sight. It was obviously late in the morning and she had probably missed breakfast.

When she got up she noticed a small parcel at the foot of her bed with a small note attached. She took the note and read.

_Miss Granger,_

_This parcel contains everything you will need for the next two days. You will receive your school supplies tomorrow at 1 pm in my office._

_Yours sincerely_

_Albus Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_P.S.: I like Bery Botts Every Flavour Beans_

Rose unwrapped the parcel and found a nightgown, a toothbrush, bell-bottoms and a blouse. She wondered where the headmaster had gotten these things in such a short amount of time. They were nothing special but for the next two days they would suffice, Rose decided.

She donned the yellow bell-bottoms and the blue blouse. Then she looked into the mirror and shuddered slightly. Fashion certainly was different in 1975. Or maybe it was just Dumbledore's eccentric taste. After a short visit to the bathroom she went down to the common room. Becky and Sharon who were reading in a corner gestured for her to join them.

"Good Morning", Rose said and sat down in one of the armchairs.

"Afternoon is more like it. You missed breakfast", Becky informed her.

"Yes, I thought as much", Rose sighed.

"Don't worry, lunch will be soon", Sharon tried to cheer her up.

"What are you reading?", Rose asked, gesturing to the books lying on their laps.

"Our Schoolbooks. This year is supposed to be harder than all the other years before because of our OWLs, so we wanted to be prepared for classes", Becky explained.

"_You_ wanted to prepare for classes. _I_ would like to play Quidditch", Sharon interjected.

"You play Quidditch?" Rose asked curiously.

"Well, I'm not on the team yet, but I'm determined to get one of the chaser positions this year" Sharon replied.

"Are there any other free spots on the team?" Rose inquired.

"Yes, the keeper position is free, too. Are you interested?" the blonde girl asked.

Rose thought about it. She hadn't played on the team before, because she was too caught up in studying, but she had often played with her cousins during the holidays and they often told her she would make a good keeper. Basically she was only repeating fifth year, she already knew all the stuff, so why not?

"Yes I am. When are the tryouts?" Rose replied.

"I don't know yet, but I should warn you. It's not easy to get onto the team when you are a girl. Often they only pick the boys because supposedly girls are too wimpy" Sharon snorted derisively.

"I don't care what they think. We will show them that girls can play Quidditch, too", Rose said fiercely.

"Sharon, I'm really glad you found someone who likes Quidditch as much as you do, but could you please let me study now?" Becky interrupted them.

"Sure, come on Dora, I'll show you the way to the Great Hall. It's time for lunch anyway", Sharon said.

"Ok, see you later Becky", called Rose and followed Sharon out of the common room.

In the Great Hall they were met with many curious stares. Apparently the news about the new student had already spread. Sharon led her to the Ravenclaw table and introduced her to the boys of their year.

"Hey guys, this is Dora. Dora, these are Rajesh Patil, John White and William Harper" she sloppily introduced and sat down in the seat opposite Harper. Rose sat down next to her, opposite White.

"So you are the new girl" White stated.

"Yes. You are all fifth years?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, we will probably see a lot of each other during classes. Which electives do you have?"

"I take Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy, and you?"

"Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures", White replied.

"Hey Will, do you know when the Quidditch tryouts are?" Sharon asked Harper.

"In two weeks I think. Why do you want to know? Do you still think you have a chance?" he taunted.

"Yes, Dora and I want to try out. Just because we are girls doesn't mean we can't play Quidditch" Sharon hissed angrily.

"Suit yourself" Harper replied and shrugging turned back to eating.

After lunch, Sharon led her around the castle and showed her the classrooms, the library, the astronomy-tower, the lake on the grounds and some secret passageways she knew. All the while Rose had to act as though everything was new to her and a few times she had to stop herself from showing Sharon a shortcut she obviously didn't know about.

The rest of the day was spent with her new fellow Ravenclaws so she could get to know them. She got along fine with most of them but some, like the fourth year Barty Crouch, she tried her hardest to avoid. It was weird to see those teenagers who were the same age as her and to know what they were growing up to be. Some she knew from tales her parents, aunts and uncles had told her, some she had not ever heard of and of some of her new classmate's grandchildren she used to go to school with. The greatest surprise was to see a fourteen year old Xenophilius Lovegood, who she had met a few times in the future.

The next day was a Monday and the day classes would finally start. Rose didn't worry too much about the lessons, after all she had been nearly finished with her fifth year when she came here, but she had to wait for her school supplies until lunch.

Luckiliy the first lesson of the day was history of magic with Professor Binns and he probably wouldn't notice that she had no book. They had this class together with the Gryffindors and Rose looked up curiously to see if there was anyone she knew with them. She inhaled sharply when a boy stepped into the room, who looked a lot like Uncle Harry and his son James. He was followed by three other boys and a girl with red hair and the same green eyes Uncle Harry had.

_That must be the marauders and Lily Evans, _she thought dazed. _I will get to meet Uncle Harry's parents. _Rose couldn't believe it.

Sharon who was sitting next to Rose nudged her. She had obviously noticed Rose staring at the Gryffindors.

"Those four are James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. You should stay out of their way. They love to pull pranks and you really don't want to get in the way of one of these. And don't even start crushing on Potter or Black. They will only break your heart, like they did with all the other girls before", Sharon warned her.

Rose only rolled her eyes. As if she would want to start something with Uncle Harry's father, she thought.

Professor Binns started on his lecture about the goblin wars, but Rose couldn't concentrate on it today. Her mind kept drifting to the five Gryffindors. James and Sirius were writing little notes back and forth, while Remus and Lily listened intently to Professor Binns. Pettigrew and the other Gryffindors all seemed to be asleep. She noticed Potter and Black throwing curious glances her way every now and then.

At the end of the lesson Lily came over to her.

"Hello, I'm Lily Evans", she confirmed Rose's assumption. "You must be the new student. How do you like it here at Hogwarts? Don't worry, not all of the teachers are as boring as Professor Binns", she said.

"Yes, I'm Dora Granger", Rose introduced herself. "I really like it here and I don't think anyone else could ever be as sleep inducing as Professor Binns", she replied.

Lily laughed. "You have Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall next, too, don't you?" she asked.

"Yes, I have. Are you coming with us, Sharon?" Rose asked her new friend.

"Sure. Hey Evans, I see you got tasked with keeping an eye on the marauders", Sharon remarked and looked at her prefect badge.

"Yes, Remus and I, but I don't think it will be any use. Remus just isn't able to stand up to Black and Potter and to me they don't listen anyway", Lily complained.

"I thought Potter was trying to get into your good graces or did he finally give up?" Sharon asked.

"Sadly no, you are welcome to distract him from me though", Lily said. "I don't want him."

Rose had to hold back laughter. Oh, if Lily only knew. But it would take two more years before James would be mature enough to make an impression on Lily.

"No thanks", Sharon declined the offer. "One marauder was quite enough for me but maybe Dora would like to try her luck?" she teased.

"Thanks but no. James Potter really isn't my type. I'd rather have Lupin" Rose joked and remembered that she was named after his future wife.

"Then you are out of luck I'm afraid. Remus never dates", Lily played along and shook her head sadly.

They reached McGonagalls classroom and set down at one of the tables together. The free seat next to Lily was immediately claimed by James Potter.

"Talk about the devil", she whispered.

"Hey Evans, don't you want to introduce your new friend to me?" the raven haired Gryffindor asked grinning widely.

"Dora, this idiot goes by the name of James Potter. Potter, this is our new classmate Dora Granger", Lily introduced reluctantly.

Again Rose had to bite back a laugh. It was just too funny to see Uncle Harry's parents bicker and banter like that. It saddened her to know that he never really got to know them and never would. Those two were sparkling with life but only in a few years they would have to fight against Voldemort and lose their lives trying to save their son. She wished she could change things but she knew it was too dangerous.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Granger", Potter said charmingly.

"The pleasure is all mine" Rose played along.

"Hey Prongs! Did you finally find another red haired witch after Evans turned you down for the thousandth time? Black called across the room.

"No, I don't give up so easily. Someday she will say yes, you will see", Potter stated confidently.

"Hell will freeze over before I go out with you!" Lily exclaimed. She stopped talking though, when Professor McGonagall entered the room.

McGonagall showed them how to transfigure an object into an animal but at the end of the lesson only Rose, Lily and James had succeeded in transfiguring their objects completely. McGonagall gave each of them ten points and everyone a lot of homework. They all groaned and went to the next lesson.

At lunchtime Albus Dumbledore was in his office, waiting for the time traveller that had turned up so unexpectedly. He wasn't sure yet what to think of her. Was she really who she said she was? Was it really an accident that landed her here? He didn't know and that irked him. But she was undoubtedly a time traveller and asking too many questions could seriously mess with time. Still, he was determined to keep an eye on her without her knowing. She seemed innocent enough for now.

At exactly one o'clock Rose stood in front of the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office.

"Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans" she said and the gargoyle jumped aside.

Rose stepped onto the winding staircase and ended up in front of the door to Professor Dumbledore's office. Before she could knock, Dumbledore' s voice sounded and told her to come in.

"Ah, Miss Granger. Please have a seat" he invited her.

She did as requested and looked at Dumbledore expectantly.

"As promised I got everything you will need for the year. You will find your supplies in this trunk over there" he explained.

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore", Rose said.

"Then on to the next point. It seems at our last meeting we forgot to think of a suitable story for you in case anyone asks about your past. May I inquire what you have already told to your classmates?"

"I said that until recently I had lived with my parents in France and gone to Bauxbatons. But my parents died a few days ago and I had to go live with some distant relatives who live in England and decided to send me here" she informed him.

"You talk French?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, one of my aunts taught me. She is French and went to Bauxbatons herself" Rose explained.

"Good. I think this will suffice for now. We could say that your parents were murdered by Death Eaters. At this moment in time there are so many murders that no one will ask too many questions about it" Dumbledore said sadly.

Rose nodded uneasy. She didn't want to think about what happened outside of Hogwarts in this time. It was hard enough to deal with this situation without thinking about the horrors going on outside.

She took her leave and brought her new trunk, full of school supplies and clothes, to her dorm. From there she went to the Great Hall to get some lunch, before going to the rest of her classes.

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**A/N: Thanks for your reviews!**

**Boldly Going Somewhere: I hope you liked the bit about Dumbledore.**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: From this chapter on I will keep calling Rose 'Dora' to avoid confusion.**

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**Chapter 3**

Dora had been in the year 1975 for two weeks now and she was slowly settling in. She had found friends in all houses apart from Slytherin. She often sat in the library with Lily, Remus or Becky to study or could be found on the Quidditch pitch with Sharon, where they trained together for the tryouts. From Hufflepuff she had struck up a friendship with Matthew Abbott and Ruth Diggory when they were assigned partners for a project in potions.

It was the weekend again and tryouts for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team would take place this Saturday. Dora didn't have her own broom but Matthew, who was the Hufflepuff's keeper, lent her his broom for tryouts. Dumbledore had promised to buy Dora her own broom if she made the team.

On Saturday morning Dora and Sharon sat nervously at the breakfast table and picked listlessly at their food. Becky who was sitting with them only rolled her eyes in annoyance and shooed them off to the Quidditch pitch.

When they arrived the rest of last year's team was already waiting with some other hopeful boys. They actually were the only girls to even try to make the team.

"So you are determined to embarrass yourselves?" Harper sneered.

The other boys were looking down on them or at least doubtful as well. Dora and Sharon only glared angrily at Harper.

"Can we start or do we have to listen to your rants first?" Sharon asked annoyed.

"Alright if everyone is here we can begin" Robert McKinnon the captain of the team called. "I want everyone to fly two laps around the pitch!"

Immediately everyone mounted their brooms and kicked off. Most of them had no problems following his order since this was only the warm up, but two second years who had decided to try their luck couldn't keep up with the others and one nearly fell off his broom in his effort to keep up with the others.

"Ok, as you probably know, we need a new keeper and two new chasers. You will go up in groups of three together with me while the others watch. Two of you will try to score together with me while the other will try to protect the hoops, understood?" McKinnon explained.

"Good, now everyone who wants to be a chaser to the right and the keepers to the left, please" he ordered them.

Sharon went to the right to the chasers while Dora went to the left to the other keepers.

"Lost your way, Granger? Chasers are on the right. You are on the left" a sixth year taunted.

Dora gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the taunts and jeers of her peers. She would show them she was better at Qudditch than all of them, she thought. She had often played Quidditch with her many cousins at home and she knew she was good.

Dora and Sharon had to wait for a long time. They were in the last group to go up together with the second year that had nearly fallen off his broom earlier. Eventually they got their chance and they took to the air to take their positions. The shots of the second year were no challenge for Dora but McKinnon and Sharon made a good team and she had to put in an effort to catch all the Quaffles thrown at the hoops.

When all were back on the ground, McKinnon looked around and called the beaters and the seeker of the team over to him to consult with them. When he had reached a decision he turned back to them.

"Baker, Casey, Davies, Granger, Martin, Wilson, you will stay. The others can go" he said.

"Baker to the goals, Davies and Martin with me" he then ordered.

Dora watched her competitor carefully. He fared quite well against Martin but Sharon managed to score some goals against him. McKinnon was content to watch them and occasionally play a few passes with them. At the end he made five shots himself of which Baker was only able to save two.

Then it was Dora's turn. Casey again was no big challenge for her but Wilson was really good. In the end she was only able to save four of McKinnon's shots.

Again the captain discussed his decision with his teammates and this time they seemed to disagree. In the end it was his decision and the others had to comply.

"Baker, Casey and Martin, maybe you will make it next time. Davies, Granger, Wilson, welcome to the team" he announced looking grim.

"Yes, we made it!" Sharon exclaimed and hugged Dora exuberantly. Dora hugged her back, both grinning happily and ignored the scowling boys.

"Our first training will be on Tuesday. Don't be late" McKinnon warned them and left with the rest of his team.

Still beaming they made their way up to the Ravenclaw common room. On their whole way there they talked about the teams of the other houses and their chances to win the Quidditch cup this year.

"Hogwart's best chasers are James Potter and Sirius Black from Gryffindor but the best seeker is Regulus Black, Sirius' younger brother from Slytherin" Sharon informed her new friend.

"Who are the other seekers?" Dora asked.

"Amos Diggory is Hufflepuff's and Samuel Vance, Emmeline's baby brother is Gryffindor's seeker" the blonde Ravenclaw answered.

They entered the common room and went over to the table occupied by Becky who was doing her homework. The prefect noticed them and looked up.

"How did it go? Did you make it?" she inquired.

"Yes, we both made it. You should have seen their faces" Sharon laughed.

"Two girls on the Qudditch team! The boys aren't happy at all but we were simply the best!" Dora grinned not even pretending to be modest.

"Congratulations!" Becky said smiling.

"I wish I could write to my parents and tell them about it" Dora said, growing sad.

Sharon and Becky lay their arms around her in a supportive gesture.

"I'm sure your parents would be proud of you" Becky said.

"Yes, Dad would certainly be proud. He always loved playing Quidditch. It was one of the few things Mum never understood" Dora remembered wistfully.

"Come on, you need something to cheer you up" Sharon said. "We will now go take a nice shower and afterwards the three of us will spend the rest of the day gossiping. No work, no sad thoughts, just having fun."

"And what about my homework?" Becky complained.

Oh come on, they can wait for one day. It's Saturday, you can finish them tomorrow" Sharon replied and dragged Dora behind her to their dorm.

Mary and Lynn weren't there, so they had the room to themselves. They both had a quick shower, put on their most comfortable clothes and then set together on Sharon's bed. Becky had really put away her books for the day and joined them on the bed.

"Now we will tell you all about the juicy gossip here at Hogwarts", Sharon exclaimed excitedly.

"Can't we talk about something other than gossip that's mostly wrong anyway?" Becky complained.

"So you don't want to know that Robert McKinnon is single again?" Sharon asked innocently.

"Sharon!" Becky cried embarrassed and blushed.

"You like McKinnon, Becky? You should have come watch our tryouts after all" Dora said amused.

"Did you know that Sharon's last boyfriend was no other than the one and only Sirius Black?" Becky retaliated.

"No. Sharon, you were with Black? When? Why? How?" Dora wanted to know.

"It was last year and only for a week. He is really hot but sadly a total ass. He's intelligent but completely immature, always pulling pranks with Potter and bullying the Slytherins. Not that the Slytherins are innocent victims, they are just as bad in their own way" Sharon replied.

"What's so bad about the Slytherins? I noticed the other houses are all avoiding them" Dora played her role as the new, ignorant girl.

"That's because most of them are future Death Eaters", Becky answered curtly.

"Hey! We said no serious topics today" Sharon reminded them.

"Not even Sirius Black?" Dora joked.

"That's a really bad joke you know?" remarked Sharon.

"Yes, I know. I just wanted to change the topic" Dora said.

"Does that mean you are interested in discussing Black further?" Becky asked grinning mischievously.

"What do you want to know? He's an extremely rich, handsome pureblood and the only Gryffindor in his entire family of Slytherins. His best friends are James Potter and Remus Lupin. He's a complete ass but he knows how to kiss. His ego has grown with his number of girlfriends and if you ask me he has had entirely too many of them" Sharon listed.

"So he's a playboy and you fell for his tricks?" Dora summarized.

"Yes" her blond friend answered regretfully.

"Now you have to tell us something about you, too" Becky said to Dora.

"Alright, my full name is Dora Rose Granger, my favourite book is 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen, my favourite subject is Ancient Runes and I'm deadly afraid of spiders" Dora told them.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Sharon asked curiously.

"No, I was always too caught up in studying" Dora replied honestly.

"Don't worry we will help you find your Mr. Darcy" Sharon said excitedly.

"It's time for dinner. Let's go down to the Great Hall" Becky suggested.

Dora and Sharon instantly agreed because they had missed lunch. They quickly changed their clothes and went down for dinner together. As they reached the table Dora and Sharon got some nasty looks from the boys who hadn't made the Qudditch team that morning. News apparently travelled fast in Hogwarts because they got some curious looks from the other houses, too. Black and Potter even came over to talk to them.

"Hey Davies, Granger, I heard you made the Quidditch team. Your house must be pretty desperate to let you girls play with the big boys. Sure you can handle us?" Black asked patronisingly.

Dora had endured the taunts and jeers from her own housemates the whole morning and now her Weasley-temper finally broke through. She glared at Black angrily.

"Shut up, Black! You won't be so cheeky anymore when you've lost against our team" she rounded up on him.

"I'm shaking with fear" he mocked her. "I bet you would go flying with the Quaffle through the hoops if you tried to catch one of the Quaffles I throw at you."

Dora was now standing right in front of him and poked her finger repeatedly into his chest. She was only a few inches smaller than him and didn't have to look up to him to gaze into his bright blue eyes. Her own brown eyes were flashing angrily.

"Merlin, you are a real macho. I have no idea how Sharon could ever like you. Just because we are girls doesn't mean we are week! One more stupid comment from you and I will hex you into next week!"

"Oh, don't be like that. I wouldn't mind to let you ride my broom" Black said completely ignoring her warning, grinning boldly and winked at her.

That was too much for Dora. She gave him a disgusted look and slapped him hard across his face in the middle of the Great Hall where everyone was watching them intently. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were now coming their way to stop their fight from escalating.

"Mr. Black, Miss Granger! Ten points from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw! Follow me to my office" Professor McGonagall told them.

Resigned they followed her and Professor Flitwick to her office. James and Sharon watched them go with sympathy but made no move to follow them. Professor McGonagall's lectures were legendary and nothing you listened to of your own free will.

In Professor McGonagall's office she told them to sit while she took her seat behind her desk. Professor Flitwick remained standing – not that it made much difference.

"Miss Granger, may I ask what prompted you to resort to physical violence against a fellow student?" she demanded sharply.

"With all due respect Professor, it was his own fault. He was making stupid comments about girls and Quidditch and I warned him I would hex him if he didn't shut up but obviously that was too much to ask, so I slapped him" Dora explained without any remorse. Normally she would have felt bad for getting into trouble but she couldn't regret her actions this time. "And don't tell me I have to put up with his chauvinistic behaviour, Professor."

"No, you do not Miss Granger. Still, violence is no acceptable solution for any problem so you will serve detention with me tomorrow evening. You can stop grinning Mr. Black, you will keep Miss Granger company. I was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team myself and I can assure you, women can play just as well as men" she said coldly.

Black looked sheepishly down on his shoes. He obviously had great respect for his head of house and now he had managed to affront her. _Serves him right_, Dora thought.

"You may go" Professor McGonagall dismissed them. "Remember, tomorrow 7 pm in my office. Do not be late."

Dora went up to Ravenclaw tower where Sharon and Becky were already waiting for her.

"Seems we've found your Mr. Darcy" Sharon whispered into her ear and quickly disappeared into the bathroom.

Dora could only stare after her, completely stunned.

* * *

**TheLaurax: **I will try to update once a week.

**huflepuff girl14: **I'm glad you like it.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

When Sirius returned to the Gryffindor common room, Lily rushed towards him to give him a piece of her mind.

"What by Merlin's beard did you say to Dora to get her to hit you? Never mind, I'm sure whatever it was you deserved it", she started to rant as soon as he came through the portrait hole.

"Stop it Lily. Don't you think McGonagall already gave me a talking to? And I'm the one who got slapped" he complained.

"Sorry Padfoot, but this time you really deserved it. First you doubt her Quidditch skills, just because she's a girl and then you hit on her? Even I could have told you that wouldn't go over well" James said without any pitty.

"And Potter really is no expert concerning girls" Lily added.

"Hey! I can have every girl I want" James said defensively.

"Oh yes? Then why am I constantly turning you down? And don't think I will change my mind any time soon" Lily now rounded up on James.

"Not even if I tell you that you are the most beautiful, intelligent girl I know and the only one I really want?" James asked grinning.

"Your flattery won't work on me" was his redheaded crush's only reply.

Sirius slipped away unnoticed during their banter. He went up to their dorm and flopped down on his bed. He was alone in the room, Remus was still in the hospital wing because of the full moon the day before and Peter was down in the common room doing homework.

_Granger has got some nerve to slap me like that. Must have something to do with the red hair, Lily has got a temper, too._

It had hurt Sirius pride when Granger had slapped him and humiliated him in front of the whole school like that and he promised revenge. He already had a few pranks for her in mind. But he had to admit she had captured his interest. From what he had seen in the last two weeks, she was not only intelligent and fit but as he had noticed today pretty, confident and spirited, too, a rare combination.

He was contemplating how to get Granger to give him a chance when James came into the room.

"Hey, why did you suddenly disappear?" James asked his best friend.

"Because you distracted Evans for a moment from her rant I really didn't want to listen to and I didn't need to stay to know she would turn you down yet again" Sirius answered.

"Someday she will see that I'm the only one for her, mark my words" James sulked.

"Give up mate, Evans is way out of your league."

"No. The day I give up is the day she marries Snivellus."

"Prongs, we are only fifteen and you are already thinking about marriage?" Sirius asked incredulous.

"What can I say? She's a very special girl."

"I will never marry. I like having one night stands."

"And the next on your list is Granger?"

"Yep. You have to admit she's a bit like Evans" Sirius said.

"Does that mean you have your eyes set on my Lily, too?" James asked bristling.

"No, no, don't worry. The lovely Lily is all yours" Sirius assured him.

"So, how will you get Granger to fall for you? She's obviously not your biggest fan, especially after what you said to her today" James stated.

"We will see. So far I got every girl I wanted."

Dora luckily had no idea of Sirius Black's plans for her. She quickly fell asleep, dreaming of Mr. Darcy from 'Pride and Prejudice' who strangely enough seemed to have Sirius Black's bright blue eyes.

Dora cursed Sharon the next morning for her comment the night before. Black as her Mr. Darcy, ridiculous! She groaned as she remembered her detention with McGonagall they had to serve together today. That big headed, chauvinistic idiot should leave her alone, or else!

She wanted so bad to talk to someone but her family and her best friend were out of her reach. After a while she decided to write to them anyway, even if they never read the letter, it would help her to sort out her own thoughts. She took out a sheet of parchment, ink and a quill and started writing.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I'm so sorry I just vanished without a trace. You must be so worried and I can't even tell you I'm all right because I'm stuck here in the year 1975 where you aren't even born yet. It's my own stupidity that I ended up here. You told me Mum, that it was dangerous to play around with time-turners, but I was still careless and now I'm paying the price for it. I'm so sorry, I couldn't even say goodbye to you. And now I don't know if I will ever see you again._

_Dumbledore – I met Dumbledore, can you believe it? – said he doesn't know how to send me back and that I am stuck here, probably forever. So if we ever meet again I will be older than you. Isn't that a freaky thought?_

_I've been here for two weeks now and am repeating my 5__th__ year (it's the 17__th__ of September). I'm going to school now with people I only know from what you told me – James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black (he's an idiot) and I even met Xenophilius Lovegood! I'm still a Ravenclaw of course and top in all of my classes but I had to give up Divination and Muggle studies. But I made the Qudditch team, Dad! I am now the Ravenclaw's keeper. My best friends are Sharon Davies and Becky Boot, two of my dorm mates in Ravenclaw, but sometimes I meet up with Lily and Remus to study in the library. They are really nice._

_I still miss all of you. Often I wish I could speak to you and ask you for advice but I can't. I don't know if you will ever read this letter but I'm writing it anyway. It helps me to clear my head and feel closer to you._

_All my Love,_

_Rose_

After she had written the letter she felt a bit better. She hid the letter and then went down to breakfast with Sharon and Becky. When they reached the Great Hall she noticed that she was getting quite a bit of attention. Some congratulated her on slapping Sirius the day before – mostly Slytherins- and some gave her angry glares – mainly girls who were secretly or not so secretly crushing on him.

Her day got even worse when she fell asleep in History of Magic because she already knew what Binns was talking about and he actually noticed an took five points from Ravenclaw because of it.

After dinner she went to detention.

"Good evening, Professor McGonagall."

"Good evening. Please sit down while we are waiting for Mr. Black" she replied.

Dora sat down on the chair she indicated and after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence there was a knock on the door and Black entered the room.

"Professor McGonagall. Granger" he said and nodded in greeting.

"Good, now that you are both here we can begin with your detention. You will remove the chewing gum" – she said the word with clear distaste – "some students stuck on the underside of their desks in my classroom. Without magic. Your wands, please."

The two students groaned and handed their wands over to Professor McGonagall. Then the transfiguration teacher led them to her classroom so they could start on their task.

"When you are finished with your task you can come to my office and retrieve your wands" she said and went back to her office.

Reluctantly Dora and Sirius began to remove the chewing gums. Dora had hoped to get it over with as quickly as possible without having to talk to Black but of course he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"This is not how I imagined our date but we could use the opportunity to get to know each other better. What do you think, Granger?" Sirius asked smiling charmingly, the innuendo clear in his voice.

"Stay away from me, Black or you will regret it" Dora hissed. She really wasn't in the mood for one of his stupid pick up lines.

"No need to bite my head off. I was only hoping we could burrow the hatchet" Sirius pouted.

"We could if you would finally learn how to keep your mouth shut" Dora replied snappishly.

"You could kiss me to shut me up" he suggested grinning broadly.

Dora ignored him for the rest of their detention.

Sirius was frustrated. Why was Granger being so difficult? His charm that never failed to impress the girls seemed to have the opposite effect on her. And for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

Dora meanwhile was bristling with anger. The idiot was so full of himself, thinking he could have every girl if he only so much as smiled charmingly at them? No, not her!

As soon as they finished removing the chewing gums from the desks she stormed out of the room and into Professor McGonagall's office to get her wand back. Then she made her way as quickly as she could back to the Ravenclaw tower. She wanted to get away from Black as fast as possible before she slapped him a second time.

"How did it go?" James asked grinning when Sirius returned from his detention.

"Don't ask" Sirius mumbled disgruntled.

"She turned you down again?" James deduced.

"Yes" Sirius replied monosyllabic.

"Finally you know how I feel with Lily" James stated.

"Yes, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life running after her, like you do" his friend replied.

"If she's worth it" James only said.

Meanwhile Dora had complained loudly about Black to Becky.

"Be glad you only have to endure his stupid remarks and not his childish pranks" Becky said.

"I would prefer his pranks, at least I would know how to deal with that" Dora replied.

"Believe me, you don't want to be the victim of one of his pranks" Becky assured her.

"I just don't know what they all see in him. He's good looking, yes but looks aren't everything. He's an arrogant git" she bristled.

"Well, he's handsome, intelligent and his family is rich. For some girls that's enough to overlook some character flaws" Becky tried to explain.

"Maybe for some it is but not for me. I'm not that shallow."

That was the end of their discussion and they both went to bed.

'Be careful what you wish for' Dora thought morosely over the next few days. Sirius had decided it was time for his revenge for the slap she gave him and continually tried to prank her. Some of them she could escape because she noticed them in time – after all she grew up with Fred Weasley II and James Potter II – but he still managed to get her a few times. At the end of the week she had sported green strands in her red hair (luckily she was able to reverse it), a note on her back reading ' Sirius Black is hot' and she was the victim of frequent attacks with dung bombs. The only place she seemed to be somewhat safe was Ravenclaw tower where she spent a great deal of her time writing letters to her family and Scorpius even though she knew they would probably never read them.

Unfortunately she had to leave her safe haven on Saturday morning to go to Quidditch practice. At least her team mates had finally stopped patronizing her after they had seen how good she was.

The training went by without any major problems but on her way back she had a run in with Sirius Black. He was grinning broadly at her, obviously happy with the pranks he had played on her.

Dora tried to ignore him and determinedly went past him when he grabbed her arm and whispered something into her ear.

"If you want the pranks to stop you only have to give me a kiss."

Dora looked at him in distaste, freed her arm from his grip and stumped to her common room. She would rather endure his pranks for the next three years than kiss this pig headed idiot. His ego was out of proportion already, there was really no need to inflate it further.

Weeks passed and nothing changed. Sirius continued to prank Dora and then ask for a kiss or a date. And Dora would tell him to go to hell. James, Remus and Peter found it entertaining to watch how Sirius was turned down time and time again. Sharon and Becky pitied her but couldn't help her either. So Dora decided to fight back.

Dora grew up with her cousins Fred Weasley II and James Sirius Potter who had inherited their namesake's passion for pranks. She knew some pretty good pranks herself, even though normally she didn't care for things like that. For Black she would make an exception. He would soon get a nasty surprise.

On a rainy day in October roaring laughter broke out at the Gryffindor table at breakfast. The only one who wasn't laughing was Sirius who was looking around in confusion. James kindly transfigured a spoon into a mirror and held it in front of him. Sirius skin was blue.

"This isn't funny James. We promised not to prank each other" he complained.

"It wasn't me! I don't know who but whoever it was is damn good at pranking" James said.

"Remus? Peter? It wasn't you either, was it?" Sirius asked.

"No, it wasn't us" Remus answered barely holding back his laughter. He didn't want to laugh at his friend but he looked hilarious.

"Then who was it? Who would dare to prank one of us?" Sirius raged.

"I'm more interested in how they managed it" Remus stated. "Obviously you are the only victim of this prank, someone must have a grudge against you" he mused.

"So who did you piss off so much?" James wondered.

"I don't know" Sirius growled.

Remus had an idea who it could have been but he kept it to himself. If it had really been her, she deserved her little revenge on Sirius. Sometimes Sirius just didn't know when to stop.

Sirius was trying to get the blue colour off of him but to no avail. Nothing he did seemed to help and even Madam Pomfrey was at a loss. He had to walk around with blue skin for a week before it vanished on its own.

He was so occupied with finding out who had played that prank on him that he even forgot to play his own pranks. A side effect Dora very much appreciated.

* * *

**huflepuff girl14: **I'm not sure if that was your question but this is definitely going to be a Sirius/Rose fic. It just may take some time for them to get there.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

June 2022

Ron and Hermione Weasley were sitting in the headmistress's office at Hogwarts. They didn't know why they were there but Professor McGonagall had a very serious expression on her usually stern face, so they knew it couldn't be anything good.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I'm afraid I have very grave news. Your daughter seems to have disappeared and we have been unable to find her. The whole castle has been searched by the staff and some students repeatedly but we have found no trace of her. I'm sorry but we don't know what happened to Rose."

"Rose has disappeared and you can't find her? How can she have just disappeared? Children don't just disappear without a trace!" Ron raged his face turning red.

Hermione sat beside him shocked into silence. Her eyes were slowly filling with tears. Hermione's over imaginative mind was quickly coming up with scenarios how and why her daughter could have disappeared. Maybe she was kidnapped by some crazy person? Or had the stress from her OWLs become too much for her and she had run away? But where would she go? No, Rose would never run away and Hogwarts was a very safe place so a kidnapping was unlikely. Then what could have happened to her?

"Are you sure she has left the castle?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Mr. Potter even showed us his map of Hogwarts to make sure she wasn't laying anywhere injured and unable to get help. Rose was nowhere on the map" McGonagall replied gravely.

Hermione was now sobbing and Ron held her in his arms trying to comfort her. He was fighting down the urge to scream at the headmistress for losing his little girl he knew it wasn't her fault.

"The aurors have already been informed. I'm sure they will be able to find her" McGonagall tried to comfort the distraught parents.

Before Ron and Hermione could leave the office an official looking owl swooped into the room and dropped a letter onto McGonagall's desk. It was a letter from Gringotts and addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Ronald and Hermione Weasley.

Confused and with shaking hands Hermione opened the letter and read aloud.

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,

We would like to inform you that from this day on vault number 522 is in your possession. It contains no monetary assets but letters addressed to you and some other individuals. Please contact us at your earliest convenience."

Regards,

Blacksmith, Gringotts Bank, Diagon Ally, London"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other completely stunned. Who would leave them a vault with letters and why?

"This doesn't make any sense" Hermione said shaking her head in confusion.

12th December 1975

It was Sirius Black's 16th birthday and he watched with trepidation as his parent's owl landed in front of him on the Gryffindor table carrying a letter and a parcel. He relieved Hades of his burden and then reached for the letter. His face paled rapidly as he read. He put the letter down and opened the parcel with shaking hands. Inside the small parcel were two rings. He didn't touch them but quickly closed the lid of the box again. Then he took a shaking breath and turned to the rest of the gifts he got.

"What is it? What did your parents send you?" James asked worriedly who had noticed Sirius going pale.

"I will tell you later" Sirius whispered and tried to act as normal as possible for the remainder of breakfast.

After breakfast they had to go to class but when it was time for lunch James dragged his best friend into an unused classroom and questioned him about the letter from his parents. James knew there was no love lost between Sirius and his parents and he wondered what was going on.

"It's my family's newest plot to turn me into the perfect Black heir" he spat.

"What did they do?" James asked worried for his best friend.

"They signed a marriage contract in my name. I'm supposed to propose to my darling cousin Bellatrix on Christmas Day" Sirius growled.

James winced. "Isn't there any way out of it?"

"I'm not of age yet. Until I am seventeen they can do with me as they please. I could try to run away like Andromeda but I don't think I would get very far. They would just get the aurors to bring me back and marry me off anyway" Sirius said bitter.

"Andromeda was cast off by your family because she married a muggle. You could do something similar" James mused.

"Oh yeah? And where am I supposed to find a muggle girl who is willing to marry me in less than two weeks?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"It doesn't have to be a muggle girl, just someone your parents wouldn't approve" James stated.

"I told you I don't want to marry. Ever" Sirius refused stubbornly.

"I thought everything would be better than marrying that crazy cousin of yours" James replied.

Sirius couldn't argue with that. James was right. Bellatrix was insane, Voldemort's most devoted follower and nine years older than him. Everything would be better than marrying her.

"Alright, you have a point. Any suggestions?" Sirius asked in a defeated tone.

"How about Dora? You obviously like her and she seems the type of girl who can keep you on your toes and not bore you to death" James suggested.

"Are you nuts? She won't even look at me much less date me. Granger would probably slap me again if I suddenly proposed to her" Sirius said looking incredulously at James.

"Maybe she would give you the time of day if you actually made an effort to get to know her and talked to her without blatantly hitting on her all the time."

"Oh really? If you are such an expert concerning girls why aren't you together with Lily yet? I don't think you are in any position to give me advice in this matter" Sirius said gritting his teeth.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help. If you have a better idea feel free to share it with me" James said defensively.

"You really think I would stand a chance with her?" Sirius asked doubtfully.

"I don't know but I think you would make a good couple" James replied honestly.

Dora was blissfully ignorant of Sirius' and James' discussion and was enjoying lunch with Becky and Sharon at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. They were talking about their plans for the Christmas holidays.

"What are you going to do, Dora? Are you going back to your relatives or staying here at Hogwarts?" Sharon asked her friend.

"I think I will stay. I hardly know my relatives and would rather spend my holidays here at Hogwarts" Dora said.

In truth there just weren't any relatives for her to go to. Yes, her grandparents were somewhere out there, but they had no idea she even existed. Hell, her parents hadn't even been born yet. There was no way she could turn up at their doorstep for Christmas.

"Oh, I wanted to go home for Christmas but I could stay here with you if you want" Sharon offered.

"Becky agreed. "You don't have to spend Christmas alone."

"Thanks you two, but I don't want to keep you from your family. You should spend as much time with them as you can" she said. _As long as you still can_, she thought but didn't say it out loud. Her eyes grew wet at the thought of her first Christmas without her family. No Weasley sweater from Nana Molly, no Christmas dinner with her overly large family, no Hugo waking her even before dawn, too excited to open his presents to sleep any longer.

"Dora? Dora? Dora!" Becky's voice pulled her from her depressing thoughts.

"What were you thinking about? You look so sad" Sharon asked.

"It's just...this will be my first Christmas without my family. I miss them" Dora admitted.

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay here at Hogwarts with you?" Becky asked worried for her redheaded friend.

"Yes, just because I can't be with my family doesn't mean I want to keep you from yours. And I won't be completely alone. I'm sure there are some other students staying here over Christmas" Dora reassured them.

"Alright, if you are sure" Sharon said hesitantly.

They ate in silence for the rest of lunch and then went together to their afternoon classes. When their last class finally ended Dora was still a little depressed so she decided to write yet another letter to her parents. It always made her feel better for some reason. Other people wrote diaries, she wrote letters to her parents and friends.

Sirius was tossing and turning in his bed. The Christmas holidays were coming nearer and he still hadn't managed to have a civil conversation with Dora. She was his only chance to avoid the fate of an arranged marriage to his crazy cousin and she didn't even give him a chance to explain anything. She always brushed him off or ignored him and he was getting desperate.

He had only a few more days to talk to her and convince her to marry him. He snorted. She would probably laugh at him and then refuse. But there was no one else he could ask, no one else he _wanted_ to ask. If he had to marry at all he wanted Dora and no one else. Dora was undeniably pretty but no airhead. She was intelligent and literate but also played Qudditch and knew how to pull pranks (he had finally figured out it was her who had turned his skin blue). She was perfect for him.

His only problem was Dora didn't seem to agree with his assessment. He had to convince her somehow. There had to be something he could do. The question was: What? Then suddenly an idea struck and satisfied with his plan of action he finally fell asleep.

The next morning Dora got a letter at breakfast. She was astonished because normally she didn't get any post. Carefully she opened the letter and read.

_Dear Dora,_

_First I want to apologize for the way I behaved towards you in the last few months. I was out of line. I hope you can forgive me for being a prat._

_Secondly I must ask a huge favour of you. Please hear me out before you throw the letter away. I am in a very serious predicament and I hope you are willing to help me out. _

_I do not know how much you know about my family but they are a dark pureblood family and I have never agreed with them. I was always the white sheep of the Black family, although I am by no means innocent. Now they are trying to turn me into the perfect heir they always wanted by marrying me off to my crazy cousin Bellatrix Black. She is not only nine years older than me but also one of the few female Death Eaters and completely insane._

_Now why am I telling you this? I am telling you this because I had hoped you would save me from this horrid fate. I know you do not think much of me but I beg you to give me a chance. Marriage was something I never intended, but now I have no other choice and you are the only girl I could possibly imagine spending the rest of my life with. Please at least consider my offer of marriage._

_If you decide to give me a chance please meet me tonight at 10pm in the seventh floor corridor._

_Yours,_

_Sirius_

Dora's head was spinning after she had read the letter. This wasn't supposed to happen. No one ever told her that Sirius Black was married. No one had ever mentioned his wife. Why? She knew for certain that Bellatrix would marry Rodolphus Lestrange. But if Sirius married someone else why didn't anyone know about it? And was it really supposed to be her? Would she change the past by marrying him or by _not_ marrying him? She needed help to sort this out. She needed to speak to Dumbledore.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Dora was standing nervously in front of Dumbledore's office. She hadn't talked to him since her arrival but now she needed his advice. It was dangerous to mess with time and the decision she had to make could change the past and with it the future she knew. She couldn't allow that to happen. Dora liked the future the way it was, thank you very much.

So she gathered her courage, knocked on Dumbledore's door and stepped into his office. The old headmaster didn't look surprised at all by her visit, something that unnerved her slightly.

"Good morning Miss Granger. Please take a seat. Lemon drop?" he offered, his blue eyes twinkling merrily.

"No thank you, Sir." Dora declined his offer.

"Then how may I help you Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked the young redheaded woman sitting in front of him.

Dora took out the letter from Sirius and put it on Dumbledore's desk.

"I got this letter this morning. What do you think I should do about it, Professor? Do you think it could just be one of his pranks?"

Dumbledore took the letter and read it carefully. Then he put it down and looked at her piercingly.

"I do not believe Mr. Black would joke about such a matter. This is indeed a very serious situation that obviously requires some consideration. May I ask about your thoughts on this?"

"I don't know. I'm confused. As you know I am from the future and I never heard of Sirius Black being married – to anyone. And to be honest I don't particularly like him. He is an arrogant bully who thinks he can have and do everything and everyone he wants. But I also know that he will grow up some day – at least to some extent – and that it would change things significantly if he was forced to marry Bellatrix."

"Hmm, obviously he is quite desperate to escape this marriage and I agree that it would be a bad match. But you are right, Miss Granger we must be careful not to change the future. I will have to think about this."

Dora already wanted to take her leave when Dumbledore started to speak again.

"Just one more question, Miss Granger. Would you be willing to help him escape this fate if it would not change the future as you know it?"

Dora hesitated. "Yes. I wouldn't want him to be married to his own murderer, no one deserves that" she finally answered and left.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk deep in thought. He had observed her over the last few months and she really seemed to be who she said she was. She seemed to have no ulterior motive in being here and was responsible enough not to change the future deliberately. But now he had to make a decision, the decision to trust her or not, a decision that would apparently influence the future of a lot of people if Rose Weasley was to be believed.

Her last words had shocked him. Would Bellatrix Black really kill her own cousin in the future? He wondered when and how it would happen. He could guess the reason though. Bellatrix was one of the most fanatic Death Eaters and Sirius Black would probably join the light side when he was old enough to make his own decision. This war was tearing families and friends apart and Dumbledore hoped it would be over soon but he knew it was unlikely.

Only a few years ago he had started to gather a group of people to fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The Order of the Phoenix they called themselves. But they barely had any information about Voldemort's plans and often came too late to save the people they tried to protect. And now the members of the Order were on top of Voldemort's hit list. James Potter's parents, Alastor Moody, Dedalus Diggel, Elphias Dodge, Benjy Fenwick, Edgar Bones, Sturgis Podmore, Caradoc Dearborn, Hagrid, Dorcas Meadowes and his own brother Aberforth. Some of the seventh years had already indicated that they would like to join the group - Frank Longbottom, Emmeline Vance and Fabian and Gideon Prewett.

But back to the matter at hand - Sirius Black's impending engagement. There really seemed no way around it. Parents had the right to draw up a marriage contract for their underage children and the only possible way out of it was to be engaged to someone else and they had to wear the family engagement ring. He hoped Sirius could get his hands on the ring otherwise his plan would fail without a doubt.

He decided to speak to Sirius and sent him a letter that ordered him to come to his office before dinner. Then he sat back down and pondered if it would be too risky to ask Dora about the future. There were some things he would really like to know.

After classes ended Sirius made his way to Dumbledore's office. He wondered why the headmaster wanted to speak to him. He hadn't pulled any pranks lately.

"Come in" Dumbledore called before he could even knock on the door.

Sirius found it slightly creepy but shrugged it off and opened the door. He stepped inside the office and greeted the headmaster. Dumbledore offered him a seat and one of his lemon drops. Sirius took the seat but declined the sweet.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Professor?" Sirius asked.

"Mr. Black, I have heard rumours about your impending engagement to Miss Bellatrix Black. Are they true?" Dumbledore asked with this all knowing twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes Professor Dumbledore" Sirius answered wondering why this would interest the headmaster.

"I thought you might try to get out of this arrangement and wanted to offer you my assistance" Dumbledore explained.

"Thank you Professor, but I've already got a plan" Sirius said.

"You know there is only one way out of this?" the headmaster asked.

"Yes. I have to propose to another girl and give her my family's engagement ring after she accepts" Sirius answered.

"And you have both, a girl who will accept your proposal and the ring?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Well, yes and no. I have the ring. My parents send it to me on my birthday. The girl I'm not so sure about. I wrote her a letter and asked her for a meeting this evening. Hopefully she will agree to at least give me a chance" Sirius said.

"If she does, I would be more than happy to perform the ceremony for you next year" Dumbledore offered.

"Thank you Professor. May I go now?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"Of course my boy, run along" Dumbledore smiled and watched him leave the office.

Then he slumped in his chair and sighed. Sirius Black was obviously smitten with the girl and he could only hope he wasn't wrong about being able to trust Rose Weasley or Dora Granger how she was now called. But she had done nothing to deserve his mistrust so far and Dumbledore generally believed in the good in people and in giving second chances. He would just have to trust her if he didn't want to be a hypocrite.

He was glad she had come to him for advice. It indicated that she trusted him as well. Maybe he would even be able to influence her to a certain degree and steer her in the right direction in case she started to stray from the right path. They would have to wait and see.

Dora was nervous. She hadn't told anyone about the letter and Sirius proposal besides Dumbledore. In only a few minutes she would meet Sirius, probably in the Room of Requirement and she was still not sure what to tell to him. Dumbledore had sent her a note earlier this evening stating it was her decision if she wanted to go through with it or not. But before she could lose her nerves and run back to her common room, Black walked around the corner and stopped in front of her.

"Granger, I'm glad you came" he said and smiled tightly at her.

"Black" she acknowledged him. "Are we going to the Room of Requirement?"

"Yes, how do you know about it?" he asked and looked at her suspiciously.

_Shit_, Dora thought. _How am I going to explain this?_

Let's go into the room first. Then we can talk" she said and started to walk up and down in front of the wall.

After she had walked by the wall three times a door formed and they stepped inside the room. It was small and cosy with a fireplace, a couch and two armchairs. The carpet was a neutral beige colour and the upholstery was brown. They chose to sit in the two armchairs rather than together on the couch.

Silence reigned in the room while both teens tried to think of something to say. They both weren't sure how to start their conversation. Finally Sirius gathered his courage and started speaking.

"How do you know about the Room of Requirement?" he repeated his earlier question.

Dora stayed quiet for a long while, while she contemplated her answer. Eventually she decided she should tell him the truth if they were really going to go through with his crazy idea. He should at least know what he was getting himself into.

"My parents and uncles told me about it."

Not a lie but not the whole truth yet either. She hoped he would ask the right questions – or maybe not. She still wasn't sure it was a good idea.

"So they went to Hogwarts? I thought you were from France?" he asked.

"Yes, they went to school here. I actually never lived in France that was just a cover story" she admitted nervously.

"Why did you need a cover story?" he asked and eyed her suspiciously again.

"To explain why I am here" Dora answered.

"And why are you here?"

"You probably won't believe me. I'm here because of a time-turner accident" she said and looked at him, curious to see his reaction.

"You want me to believe you are a time traveller? From the future?" he asked incredulous and started to laugh.

"Good one. You nearly had me there" he added after a while, still laughing.

"I'm serious, you idiot!" she snarled at him.

"No, I'm Sirius, you are Dora" he replied only slowly calming down.

"Very funny. I'm trying to make an honest confession here!" she exclaimed exasperated.

"Alright, let's assume I believe you, why would you tell me now?" he asked after he had sobered.

"Because apparently you want me to be your personal hero and save you from an arranged marriage to your deranged cousin by becoming your wife and I thought it would be a bad start to keep a secret from such massive proportions from my future husband" Dora explained.

_Merlin that sounded weird,_ Dora thought.

"You are really going to give me a chance?" Sirius asked amazed.

"Yes, yes I'm giving you a chance. Don't make me regret it!" she warned him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he smiled broadly, run over to her and hugged her. Then he lifted her out of her armchair and spun her around.

"You won't regret it, I promise!" he said as he let her down again.

"I hope so" Dora murmured under her breath.

"Now, still want to tell me you're from the future?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, you can ask Dumbledore if you don't believe me" she replied.

"No not now. Tell me about your time. Which year are you from?" he inquired curiously.

"I'm not sure how much I should tell you. I don't want to mess up time" the red haired witch said nervously.

"Then tell me something else" the Gryffindor said visibly exited.

"Alright, my real name is Rose Nymphadora Weasley – don't you dare laugh about my middle name!"

"Why would I laugh about your middle name? It's what my cousin called her poor baby girl" he said and actually managed not to laugh.

Then suddenly a horrified expression crossed his face.

"You aren't her daughter, are you? Please tell me we aren't related somehow" he pleaded.

"No, don't worry. As far as I know we aren't. Or only very distantly, if at all" she calmed him down.

"Oh, good, you had me worried there for a moment."

"Nymphadora only had or will have? one son – Teddy – he married or will marry my cousin Victoire" she told him.

"Wicked, tell me more!"

"What else do you want to know?" she asked amusedly.

"How did you even end up here? You said it was an accident?"

"Yes I accidentally spun my time-turner a few too many times" she answered and rolled her eyes at her own stupidity.

"Why did you even have a time-turner?" Sirius wondered.

"To be able to get to all my classes. The headmistress gave it to me at the beginning of third year" Dora told him. "Technically I'm already eighteen years old because of all the extra time I gained through the time-turner."

"That's crazy!" the Gryffindor exclaimed.

"It's true" she shrugged.

"Typical Ravenclaw. You have something as cool as a time-turner and what do you use it for? Studying!" he exclaimed dramatically.

"That's the only reason I even got it" Dora argued.

"Do you still have it?" the black haired boy asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"No, Dumbledore took it when I arrived here. To prevent any more accidents he said."

For the first time she was glad it was safe in the headmaster's office. She didn't want to imagine what Sirius would want to use it for - probably one of his pranks.

The Gryffindor looked slightly disappointed but recovered quickly. He finally remembered why they were there in the first place and took out his family engagement rings. Sirius noticed the redhead's curious but also apprehensive look.

"Are you sure? Once this ring is on your finger it will only come off if we _both _decide to end our engagement or if one of us dies" he warned her.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

June 2022

Hermione and Ron Weasley stepped into Gringotts. They would have been much rather somewhere else, doing something to find their daughter who had disappeared without a trace one week ago but there was nothing they could do and so they had decided to investigate the mysterious vault that had somehow come into their possession instead.

They showed the letter they got from Gringotts to one of the goblins and were lead into an office. In the office sat no goblin but a very old wizard. He introduced himself as Mr. Blacksmith and offered them a seat. The couple sat down on two chairs in front of his desk and waited impatiently for some kind of explanation.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I assume you are here to inquire about vault number 522?" the man asked.

"Yes, that's right" Hermione confirmed.

"Vault number 522 was opened in May 1981 by a young woman who told me to transfer the vault into the possession of Ronald and Hermione Weasley in July 2022. I still remember it quite well because it was such an unusual request. The vault holds only letters, mostly addressed to you" Mr. Blacksmith explained. "Do you want to go and retrieve the letters from the vault?"

"Do you know the name of the young woman?" Hermione asked puzzled.

Who would have written letters to her and Ron when they were only one year old? And how could that woman have known they would marry eventually? This was getting more and more mysterious.

"Black, Rose Black she called herself" the old man replied.

Hermione startled. No, it couldn't be. How would her daughter have ended up so far in the past? And why would she call herself "Black"? Surely it was just a coincidence and she was grasping at straws.

"Yes, please show us to the vault" Ron spoke up for the first time.

* * *

13th December 1975

"What do you mean 'it won't come off'?" Rose asked surprised.

"This isn't a normal ring. It's the Black family's engagement ring. The ring is enchanted so you can't take it off on a whim. Also it's enchanted to resize itself to fit you. It has some protection charms, too. This ring has been passed down in my family for centuries and is really old, one of our family heirlooms. The last one to wear it was my shrew of a mother" Sirius explained.

"But I thought you can't take it off? How can you have it if your mother is still alive and married to your father?" Rose wondered confused.

"You can take it off when we are married, just not before. If you took your ring off before our wedding it would mean you broke our engagement. We would no longer be engaged and I would have to marry Bella. It's actually a good thing we both need to take our rings off ourselves at the same time because this way my family can't force us to break our engagement if we don't agree."

"So what you are actually saying is a normal ring wouldn't do? I have to wear this one?" the red headed witch summarised.

"Yes, and I will have to wear its counterpart" the Black heir confirmed.

"Alright" she sighed. "Go ahead."

"Rose Nymphadora Weasley, would you do me the great honour of marrying me?" he asked and got down on one knee in front of her.

She rolled her eyes at his dramatics but answered nonetheless.

"Yes, I will marry you, Sirius Orion Black."

He looked surprised that she knew his second name but kept quiet while he slipped the ring onto her finger. Then he gave her the second ring so she could slip it onto his finger. He stood back up and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you for doing this. I know you don't particularly like me but I will make it up to you somehow" he said sounding unusually serious.

He would have liked to kiss her instead of just hugging her but he knew it would only make her angry. Instead he decided to get to know his fiancée better. Maybe she would warm up to him if they managed to just talk civilly for a while.

Dora and Sirius talked for about half an hour. Dora was carefully avoiding everything that had to do with the war because it wouldn't do to slip up and tell him something he wasn't supposed to know. Sirius and his friends were too involved in the first and second war to tell him any details without potentially changing the outcome. Instead they talked about their likes and dislikes, their friends, teachers and school subjects.

After half an hour they had to part ways to avoid being out past curfew. They went back to their common rooms where their friends were already waiting for them. They had decided to tell only two other people about their engagement – Lily and James. To keep anyone else from finding out Sirius had put a concealing charm on their matching rings. Dora didn't like lying to her friends but she knew it was better this way.

When Sirius entered the Gryffindor common room he was immediately accosted by James.

"How did it go?" he asked impatiently.

Sirius pulled him upstairs to their dorm to talk in private.

"Surprisingly well although she had a few surprises for me in store" Sirius finally answered James' question after he had locked the door and cast a privacy spell.

"What kind of surprises?" James asked intrigued.

"Dora is not who she pretends to be. Dora isn't even her real name. She's actually called Rose."

"Why is she pretending to be someone else? Does Dumbledore know?" James asked sharply.

"Yes, Dumbledore knows, at least that's what she said. I don't think she's lying, the story she told me is too crazy to be made up" Sirius said.

"Alright, tell me this crazy story" demanded now excited again.

"Ok, she's a time traveller, from the future. She had an accident with a time-turner and somehow ended up here" Sirius told him the short version of the story.

"You are kidding me, right? Now tell me the real story" James insisted.

"That is the real story. She even told me some details" Sirius replied.

"What kind of details?"

"For example she knew of the Room of Requirement. She said her parents and uncles told her about it."

"So that she's from France and went to Bauxbatons was a lie as well?"

"Yes, her real name apparently is Rose Nymphadora Weasley and the Weasleys have always lived in Britain and sent their children to Hogwarts."

"So she's a Weasley? A Pureblood? Then why would she pretend to be a half-blood if she wasn't? Especially now?"

"I don't know. Maybe one of the Weasleys married a muggleborn or even a muggle. I heard Arthur is terribly interested in their contraptions."

"You could be right about that. Did she tell you anything else?"

"Well, she knows a few things about my family although she swears we aren't related. She somehow knew my middle name and she said Andromeda's daughter will have a son called Teddy who will marry her Cousin whose name I can't remember, but was definitely French."

"Did she tell you which year she is from?" James asked.

"No, but I would guess about fifty years from now. Andy's daughter is only three years old at the moment. It will be a while before she's old enough to have a kid and that kid is old enough to marry."

"Wow, that's a lot of time. Do you think she knows what will happen to You-Know-Who? She probably knows who will win the war" James said excited.

"Yes, probably but she won't talk about it. Something about messing with time and changing the future" Sirius explained.

"Damn, she could just tell us how to finish him off and save a lot of time and lives in the process" James complained.

"Maybe she doesn't know. She was probably born after the war ended...eh, ends, you know what I mean" Sirius mused.

"I think we should ask her. She could at least explain why she can't tell us certain things" James suggested.

"Alright, we will ask her next time" Sirius agreed.

"Will you tell Remus and Peter, too?"

"No, we agreed only to tell Lily and you because you are our best friends. I mean, Remus and Peter are my friends, too but we want as few people to know as possible for safety reasons, you know? Only Dumbledore, Dora, You and I know so far. Dora will tell Lily tomorrow but no one else will know" Sirius explained.

James nodded in understanding.

"Thanks for trusting me so much, Padfoot. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"Prongs, you are more of a brother to me than Regulus ever was. Who else would I want to be my best man? And I expect to be yours when you finally marry the lovely Lily."

"Of course, Padfoot. You are the brother I never had but always wanted."

"Ok, let's go to bed before this gets any cheesier" Sirius said and started to put on his pyjamas.

James laughed in agreement and followed his friend's example.

They reversed the locking charm and the privacy spell, slipped into their beds and went to sleep.

The next morning Dora was woken up by Becky. She had overslept and breakfast was nearly over. Quickly she got out of bed, dressed, washed and ran down to the Great Hall. She managed to grab an apple before she had to rush to her first lesson.

"Hey Lily, can I talk to you after classes? It's important" Dora whispered as the lesson was about to start.

"Sure, meet me in the library at 4.30pm" Lily whispered back and returned her attention to Professor Binns.

The day dragged on for both girls. For Lily because she was curious what her new friend wanted to talk to her about and for Dora because she worried about Lily's reaction to her news. Eventually half past four came around and they made their way to the library.

Lily arrived first and sat down at one of the tables near the entrance. She took out one of her books and started to read although she couldn't really concentrate and waited for Dora. She didn't have to wait for long. Only a few minutes later Dora arrived and led her to a table hidden in one of the many corners of the library. Then she took out her wand and used Muffliato so no one could overhear them and sat down next to Lily.

Lily watched her curiously. She didn't recognise the spell Dora had used but she knew now was not the time to ask about it.

"Well, there are some things I want to tell you, but I don't know how" Dora began, unsure how to continue.

"We are friends, aren't we? You can tell me anything" Lily reassured her.

"Ok, do you want the crazy story first or the one that's even crazier?" Dora asked nervously.

"I'm a Gryffindor, so give me the crazier story first" Lily laughed now even more curious than before.

"Alright" Dora took a deep breath, "My mother was a very intelligent witch. She always had the best grades at school and everyone always compared me to her. I got sick of it and decided I wanted to be even better than her so people would finally stop comparing me to her. So in third year I chose every extra class that was offered. My mother had done the same but she had dropped two of the classes again at the end of it. I didn't."

At this point Lily interrupted her. "How is that even possible? Maybe it's different at Bauxbatons but here at Hogwarts you can't take all of the offered classes because then you would have to be in two places at once. It's impossible."

"No, it's not. Have you ever heard of time-turners?"

"Yes of course but they are restricted by the ministry. They keep them in the Department of Mysteries and you can't get one without their permission" Lily answered.

"Well, I did as did my mother. The headmistress gave it to me at the beginning of my third year with the order to keep it a secret and to tell no one about it. I did and for two years everything went fine. I went to all my classes, finished all my homework on time and managed to keep the time-turner a secret even from my best friend. But then fifth year came and the workload became so much I had hardly any time to eat or sleep. My best friend begged me to drop at least one or two of my classes but I refused. I wish I had listened to him."

Dora was nearly crying now. Talking about Scorpius and her mother reminded her of what she had lost through her own stupidity. Lily hugged Dora to comfort her.

"What happened?" she asked after a while.

"One day after one of those arguments with my friend I was so tired and lost in thought that I started to play with my time-turner like you would with a normal necklace. I didn't notice until it was too late..." Dora trailed off.

Lily's thoughts were racing. Could it be...? That would be a crazy story indeed. There was only one way to find out.

"You are a time-traveller, aren't you?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for your reviews!**

**Exams are coming up but I will try to update regularly.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait but I simply didn't have the time. I hope you enjoy.

**Thanks for all the great reviews!**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Lily looked at Dora in shock and wonder. She had already suspected it but it was still a great shock to have it confirmed. Thousands of questions were running through her mind and she couldn't decide which one to voice first.

Dora was watching Lily anxiously. She had been silent for a long time now and Dora was worried about her reaction. Finally the Gryffindor girl seemed to have found her voice again.

"Why are you telling me this? You aren't my daughter, are you?" she asked sounding slightly panicked.

"No, no, oh Merlin no! I'm not your daughter. My real name is Rose Nymphadora Weasley. Granger was my mother's maiden name," Dora explained.

"Oh, good, I just thought...with the red hair and all..., not that I wouldn't want you as a daughter" Lily hurried to assure her. "I really like you and you are a very good friend but it would just be so awkward," she explained.

"Yes, it probably would," Dora agreed.

"So why are you telling me this?" Lily asked again.

"Uh, to answer that question I need to tell you the other crazy story first. But I was hoping you would agree to do me a favour after hearing me out," Dora said, still unsure how to explain her current situation.

"Sure, as long as you don't ask me to murder someone or break any laws or rules," Lily said instantly without the slightest hesitation. Dora was her friend and she still trusted her despite the things she had just revealed.

Dora laughed. "No, don't worry. I'm not going to ask you to do anything forbidden or illegal."

"Well, then let's hear the rest of your story," Lily said and looked at her expectantly.

"Alright, how much do you know about Sirius Black?" Dora asked her.

"Black? That obnoxious prick of a prankster? What has he to do with anything?"

"A lot. How much do you know about his family?"

"Not much, just what everyone knows. That they are typical Slytherin purebloods who despise everyone and everything related to Muggles. He doesn't talk about them often because he doesn't agree with them. About his only redeeming quality if you ask me" Lily said.

"He got a letter from his parents on his birthday a few days ago," Dora started her explanation. "They told him of his betrothal to his cousin Bellatrix who is not only completely insane but also one of You-Know-Who's followers. They can and will force him to marry her as soon as he turns seventeen unless he elopes with someone else before they can get their hands on him."

Understanding and horror dawned on Lily's face.

"And that someone is you?"

"Yes, I already agreed. He proposed to me yesterday and I accepted. We decided to keep our engagement a secret and only tell the two persons we want to be the witnesses on our wedding. Will you be my maid of honour, Lily?"

"Of course I will. But why are you doing this? You don't even like him!" the Gryffindor exclaimed.

"I have to do this because he isn't supposed to marry Bellatrix. If he married her it would change the future as I know it and I just can't risk that."

"Would it really change so much? Is he worth throwing away your chance at love and a happy marriage?" Lily asked insistently.

"Yes. I know he's a prick right now but he will grow up – eventually – and he will play an important role in this war. But he needs to distance himself from his family and make his own decisions. Sure, he will make some really bad decisions but they are nonetheless important. And I would love to change some events but I can't because it's too dangerous. Please understand?" Dora begged obviously distressed.

"You know who will win this war, don't you?" Lily asked.

"Yes. The Light Side will win this war but the price will be high. So many people will die and I can't save them," Dora finally broke down and started to cry. Lily was her friend and one of the people she would not be able to save. It hurt her to know what would happen in a few years and not be able to prevent it.

"Hush, it's alright," Lily said and hugged her tightly. "I understand."

They sat like this for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts. Dora finally dried her tears and smiled weakly at Lily.

"Thank you. I'm glad we are friends."

"So am I," Lily returned the smile. "Since you arrived things got a lot more interesting."

They laughed together and for the moment all their previous dark thoughts were forgotten.

Soon the Christmas holidays were upon them and the majority of the students left the castle to visit their families. Dora stayed at Hogwarts because she had nowhere else to go and Sirius had decided to stay as well to escape his family. The Potters had invited him to stay with them but he thought it was safer to stay at the school. Mr. Potter was an auror and would be obligated to hand him over to his parents if they came for him whereas Professor Dumbledore was more than happy to deny them access to the school grounds.

Only three other students had decided to stay at the school over the Christmas holidays – a first year Gryffindor, a sixth year Hufflepuff and Severus Snape. Dora hadn't really talked to Snape yet but she was curious to get to know him because of the many stories she had heard about him from her family. So when she saw him sitting alone in the library one day she decided to join him at his table.

"Hello, I'm Dora Granger. You are Lily's friend, Severus Snape, right?" she introduced herself.

"Yes," he scowled at her and promptly turned back to his book.

"What are you reading?" she asked determined to get him to talk.

"None of you business. Now go bother someone else and let me read in peace," the Slytherin replied acidly.

"Wow, you sure know how to charm the ladies," Dora said sarcastically but remained stubbornly on her seat at the table.

"Whoever said I was trying to? If you are looking for your Prince Charming I suggest looking at the Quidditch pitch. I don't think Black even knows how to read, so you won't find your boyfriend in here," he remarked snidely.

"Black isn't my boyfriend," she said calmly. _He's my fiancé but no one is supposed to know that._

"Oh, so you_ do_ have some brains. Then why is it so difficult for you to understand that you are not wanted here?"

"Merlin, I was just trying to be nice. Lily's always talking about you and how she wished you had more real friends so I thought I would try but apparently you aren't interested. You really can be a right bastard, you know?"

Severus rolled his eyes at the Ravenclaw's persistence. Normally people were only nice to him if they wanted something from him and he was easily able to scare them off with his sarcastic attitude but this girl seemed genuine in her attempts and not inclined to give up any time soon. He knew she didn't need his help for homework, she was one of the best students in their year and what else could she possibly want from him?

"I know," he smirked. "But you don't seem too bothered about it. I think we could try this friendship thing if you still want to."

Dora looked at him in surprise then stuck her hand out for him to shake wondering what had changed his mind. Severus took her offered hand and she gave him a tentative smile.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" a loud voice suddenly disturbed the silence of the library. Dora looked up and saw Sirius storming towards them, looking livid.

"Get your hands off of Dora you greasy git," he shouted, grabbed Dora by her shoulder and pulled her away from the Slytherin.

Angry, Dora shrugged Sirius hands off and turned towards him to give him a piece of her mind.

"Black, let me go! You have no right to order me around or decide who I spend my time with! If I want to be friends with Severus I will and you better not insult my friends or I will hex you six ways to Sunday!" she replied furious.

"You can't tell me you really want to be friends with Snivellus?" the Gryffindor asked incredulously.

"I already am and you can't stop me!" Dora replied defiantly.

Sirius glared at Severus, silently promising to make his live hell and stormed back out of the library as suddenly as he had appeared.

"I'm sorry for that. He had no right to say those things," she apologized to Severus.

"I'm used to it," he said in a flat, toneless voice. "He has always hated me because I'm a Slytherin and to him all Slytherins are evil." A slight hint of resentment crept into his voice. "Are you sure you want to be friends with a snake?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now, what are you reading?"

They stayed in the library until it was time for dinner, discussing potions and DADA. They were Severus' favourite subjects and he could talk about them for hours without getting bored. Dora was impressed by his vast knowledge in these two subjects and enjoyed their discussion immensely. Not many could keep up with her and it was nice to have someone to talk to now that Lily, Remus and Becky were gone for the holidays.

Sirius was still fuming when they arrived together at the Great Hall for dinner and threw hateful glances at Snape. Severus simply ignored him, sat down as far as possible from him on the only table currently standing in the Great Hall and started to eat. Dora took the seat next to him, glaring at Black for his immature behaviour and started to eat as well.

Black stormed off as soon as he was done eating while Dora took the time to say good night to Snape. After Severus was gone Professor Dumbledore approached her.

"Miss Granger, please come to my office tomorrow at 10 a.m. Mr. Black can accompany you if he wants to," he told her.

"Yes, Headmaster," she answered wondering what he wanted to talk about.

"Have a nice evening," he nodded at her and left the Hall.

She went back to Ravenclaw Tower where she curled up in front of the fire in one of the armchairs with a book, reading until it was way past midnight. When she finally became too tired she dragged herself to bed and promptly fell asleep.

The next day she woke up at eight o'clock in the morning and debated if she should tell Black about their meeting with Professor Dumbledore or not. She was still angry at him for his behaviour the previous day but on the other hand he was her fiancé now. Whatever Professor Dumbledore had to say would probably concern him, too.

She decided to go to breakfast and see if he was already awake. If he was still asleep she wouldn't be able to inform him anyway.

Unfortunately she met him on her way out of the Great Hall after she had finished her breakfast. Reluctantly she told him about the meeting with Dumbledore. Sirius, who was bored out of his mind without his friends, was eager to tag along and find out what Dumbledore had to say. So after he had had a short breakfast as well, they made their way up to the headmaster's office.


End file.
